Spanish developer Pablo Castro has fired back at Laura Tauber’s lawsuit over a massive Live Local Act project, in which she alleged he sidelined her from the development and promised profit shares.
Tauber sued Castro in March, saying she worked for three years on The HueHub with zero compensation under the understanding that she would be rewarded after the project scored approval and financing, and construction started, according to her complaint.
But on April 30, Castro denied Tauber was ever a partner in the project, arguing she had wanted to participate to gain experience in workforce housing development, Bisnow reported. While she was allowed to participate in meetings and was referred to as a HueHub “partner,” this was under the understanding that she would bring in equity and invest herself, as well as share project costs –– all things Tauber failed to do, according to the complaint.
Because Tauber “knowingly” participated in HueHub without payment “with the expectation that any future benefit would arise from her anticipated equity participation through investment or the introduction of investors, which never materialized,” her right to seek recovery is waived, according to Castro’s response.
The $880 million HueHub will consist of seven 35-story towers with more than 4,000 units at 8395 Northwest 27th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood. All apartments will be at rents restricted for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income, exceeding the Live Local Act’s mandate that at least 40 percent of units are for those earning up to 120 percent of the AMI.
The project scored final approval last summer, and demolition of buildings on the site started in March. Two days later, Tauber sued Castro.
According to her complaint, she was to contribute her local know-how, which she had amassed after years in South Florida real estate, while Castro told her he would pony up the capital and that he had sold his company in Spain for a “substantial sum.”
Ultimately, Tauber was to receive equity in HueHub as a non-cash investment partner, 50 percent of property management income shared with Castro, 1 percent asset management fee, 10 percent of the developer fee and $50,000 monthly for her work in the past three years, she said in her complaint. He eliminated her Class D shares and then cut her out of access to their once-shared office and her records pertaining to the project.
She amended her complaint last month, adding a seventh count for defamation, alleging Castro made false statements to various people about Tauber, including that she is a “fraudster,” “extortionist,” and that she “was useless and did nothing,” according to Tauber’s complaint.
Castro’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss this and some of the other counts. His Bilzin Sumberg lawyers are the third group of attorneys to represent him in the case.
“There will be no support for the contention made by HueHub’s and Mr. Castro’s lawyers that Ms. Tauber was to obtain investors, invest in the project, or share in expenses,” Steve Silverman, Tauber’s attorney, said in a statement to the publication.
–– Lidia Dinkova
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